Grocyn, William (c. 1446–1519)

English humanist and scholar. He studied in Italy and on his return in 1491 he was ordained a priest. He began to teach Greek at Exeter College, Oxford, the first time in England the subject had been taught publicly. His importance lies in his encouragement of studia humanitatis in England. Among his pupils were Thomas More, and also Erasmus, who left an account of Grocyn in his letters.

Very little is known about his life before his matriculation at New College, Oxford, in 1465. In 1481 he was appointed reader in divinity at Magdalen College. In 1488 he went to Italy to study Greek at Florence and Rome with Chalcondyles and Politian. Grocyn died at Maidstone, leaving a library of 105 printed books and 17 manuscripts. None of Grocyn's own writings survives.

In Erasmus's letters Grocyn appears as a man who combined traditional scholastic theology with a respect for new learning and a commitment to the highest standards of scholarship.